Chapter 20
AURORA
Staying calm and doing my normal day-to-day things while keeping my eye on everyone, because the last thing I want is someone noticing that I’ve been to the laundry and collected all my clothing myself, and not waited for the house females to deliver them to my room.
In my bedroom I pick out leggings, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and underwear. All black to help go unnoticed while traveling in human form. In the walk-in closet I open and close drawers until I find a black beanie which Taria had given me as a joke. But it will cover my hair, keeping it out of my face.
We move fast in human and my form. Gerry is good at concealing us when needed. The two females are trained and their wolves have spoken with me, deferring to me as the alpha wolf for the journey.
‘That’s good, Aztec. You are good at running with Asher. You both help each other and I’m not going to give myself up this time.’
No, we don’t give ourselves to them. I will fight you as well as them if I need to. We find out what is happening, and we come back.
‘Yes, that’s all we are doing.’
I feel Aztec slide into the back of my mind and curl into a ball, tucking her nose under her tail and closing her eyes to sleep. She’ll be well rested when, and if I need her to run for any length of time, or fight if we are caught.
The time for the evening meal rolls around and I quickly make my way to the dining area. Taria is placing trays of food out for the pack, and catching her eye, I call her over.
“Take a seat.”
“I’m busy, Momma.”
“Take a seat. I want to speak with you,” I stress, giving her a frown.
Sitting next to me, Taria composes herself, and I can see she would like to throw one of her tantrums but thinks better of it. I smile as I pat her hand. “You are learning to stay composed. Well done, Taria. You know I am very proud of you. The way you have taken to all the tasks has not gone unnoticed, and the pack feels proud of you, too.
“I’ve not spoken with either Luna as yet, but I will. I want you to be ready and feel comfortable before you go to them. You will be a great Luna, Taria. I know that you and Bronze will make a magnificent couple and will lead the pack well.”
“Thanks, Momma, but as well as proving to Bronze that I can be what he needs, I’ve told him and the current alpha that he has to prove himself too. I know he meant nothing bad with what he said, and I know he wants me. I also understand that I can’t roll over and be a doormat, it’s not who I am, and it’s not who I want to be,” hitting my shoulder with hers, Taria smiles with eyes sparkling with mischief, “it’s going to be fun seeing if he can catch me.”
“Well, don’t run too hard or you may miss each other. But I agree, although you have to prove yourself, so does he. I’m sure it will come together at some stage. Six months isn’t a long time.”
“Oh, it may be longer than six months, because I may not want to jump that fast into being his mate, supporting all his ideas, notions, and whatever. I may go to the pack and make sure I like the pack first, because from where I’m standing, and what I’ve heard, they are all a bunch of shifters that value you for what you can do, and not for who you are.” Taria sounds far more grown up than she has in a while, and I can’t help but think this is going to be good for her.
“Whatever you decide, I’m 100% behind you. You know I love you and am proud of the way you are turning yourself into someone the pack is looking up to.”
“I’ve got to get back to the kitchen Momma, I’ll see you later,” Taria kisses my cheek and runs back to the kitchen.
I quickly finish my meal and get to my room, as I need at least two hours of sleep before I sneak away from the pack. Quickly undressing and climbing into bed, I look to the back of my mind and see Aztec still curled up, sleeping. She’s been asleep for quite a while and should be refreshed when she wakes. I make sure my alarm is set, then close my eyes and quickly fall asleep.
Buzzing wakes me and realizing it’s my alarm, I tap it to stop before climbing out of bed and freshening up. I wear the all black outfit I selected earlier and push my hair under the beanie. Listening to the packhouse, it’s all quiet.
‘Do you hear anything, Aztec?’
Nothing, it’s all quiet. Someone is using the tap in the kitchen, but that’s all I hear.
‘Okay, let’s get moving and meet up with the others.’
I can see Aztec is sitting up and yawning, and can’t help but smile at her because she’s such a sweetheart and I’m very lucky to have her as my wolf.
Sneaking out of the packhouse was far easier than I expected. I came across no one, yet the doors were unlocked when I reached them. They are large double doors at the main packhouse and you would think they would be locked with the threats we are and have been facing. It’s something I’ll have to speak to the pack about later.
Halfway to the territory's border, I meet with Gerry, who has Sharon and Aggie with him. “Did you get away easily?” I ask.
“Too easy, Alpha Aurora. You need to set up some security for the packhouse because anyone could walk in or out without you knowing,” Sharon states, giving me a cringe when she realizes she was being critical to an alpha.
“It’s okay Sharon, I thought the same when I saw the main doors were unlocked too. I’ve made a mental note to address it. Now, while we are not in an official capacity, you can drop the Alpha.”
“Okay, that’s good, as it gets to be a bit of a mouthful. Are you ready?” Sharon turns to look at Aggie and Gerry, who are both clothed in black as well. When they give her a nod, we turn toward the border and start running.
Stopping while the border patrol passes, I am pleased to notice they both stop and listen to any noise, sniff the air and try to detect anything out of the ordinary. We, I’m sure, all used something floral in our body wash this evening to counteract our natural smell. The less attention we attract to ourselves, the better.
Moving from one area to another, we stay undetected by any passing rogue. They are very few and far between, much less than the last time Gerry and I came through. Maybe something is different now?
Stopping behind a large hollowed out oak tree, we wait for the two rogues we hear talking to pass. Aggie gives me a tap and as I turn to look, she points at a single figure in the shadow of a tree. I’m squinting and not sure I’m even seeing a person!
‘Am I seeing someone in the shadows of the tree, Aztec?’
Yes. Male, sneaky, but clever. Staying in the shadows.’
Shadows! Now I wonder if that is Xavier the shadow warrior? If it is, he has caught up with us well before we wanted him to. I nudge Gerry with my elbow and give a head signal for him to look.
Mind-linking Gerry, I ask, ‘Gerry, do you see a person in the shadows near the tree?’
‘I thought I saw something earlier but figured I was seeing things. But I’m now thinking we have a shadow warrior on our tail.’
‘Yeah, my thoughts too. Let’s ignore him for now and move on.’
Giving me a nod, we tap Sharon and Aggie to get their attention and move on. Shifting into our wolves, we move swiftly toward the camp. We don’t waste any time either, and Aztec is enjoying the run alongside Asher.
Reaching a few minutes before the camp, we shift back and listen, but not a sound. Everyone is asleep, or they have gone!
‘Can you hear anything, Aztec? Any breathing, sniffling, anything?’
No, nothing. I can’t sense anything human or wolf.
“Aggie, you come with me, Sharon, go with Aurora. Circle the camp and keep alert. There may be an underground area and you don’t want to get caught,” Gerry whispers, and giving him a thumbs up, we move out.
Sharon stays one step behind me, and I weave through the trees on the outskirt of the camp. But nothing, not a sign of anyone. Something has caused the rogues to move, and I’m not convinced it was their hostages getting away.
Meeting with Gerry and Aggie back where we split up, I give him a questioning look. “Anything?”
“Nothing. I reckon they’ve gone or gone underground, as we suspected.”
“We can’t risk finding the entrance to the underground because we’d be tempted to enter. Let’s report back to the council and see what they want to do.” Sharon turns to look behind her, and we all look too.
A deep voice, kept low, has all of our attention. “You all go back. They have gone underground. I’m Xavier and you need to get away from here before I do what I have to do to get the information we all need.”
I would like to argue with him, but I know that we are lucky to have him assisting us, so keep my objection to myself. I check him out and he’s all in black, black hair and he’s blacked his face for concealment. I have no idea what he actually looks like, and would pass him and not realize who he was.
Aggie steps forward slightly, and keeping her voice low, asks. “Do you need someone to stay and keep watch? It can be done from the trees.”
“No, I want you all gone because I don’t have time to worry about what you are doing, or if you have been found.” Xavier gives Gerry a look and when Gerry nods, Xavier turns and disappears into the shadows of the night leaving us watching his retreat.
“Come on, let’s get back to the packhouse. We’ll have been missed by now.” Gerry turns and starts to walk away, but I stand a few moments thinking this has been a total waste of time.
“We know that the hostages escaping has caused them to either move to another location or they have gone underground. Xavier will get that information. But we can go back and let the council know the camp is empty, and the patrol seems to have disappeared, too. We’ve seen six rogues since we entered no-man’s-land, and I would think that is an extremely low number,” Sharon murmurs to me.
“When I came with Gerry previously, there were dozens we had to dodge to pass to the camp. So yes, it is more than extremely low. It’s unbelievable.”
“Let’s get moving, but keep our eyes and ears peeled.” Sharon moves away slowly and shifts to her wolf. I take another moment to listen before allowing Aztec to take control as we move toward home.
Hours later, and tired, we arrive back at the territory border. Crossing over, we are quickly challenged by the pack border patrol, and I am thrilled to see they are more than willing and able to challenge anyone that may try to enter the territory.
Shifting to my human form, I give the patrol a wave. “Well done. You were quick to confront intruders.”
“Thank you, Alpha Aurora,” one of the patrol replies. “We didn’t recognize Aztec for a moment.”
“Don’t worry about not recognizing, I’m as I said, happy that you were fast to challenge anyone that may not be suitable to enter the territory. Keep your eyes peeled because something is amiss. The rogues are not where they should be, and they are not in the area. How many rogues have you seen on their side of the border while you have been patrolling?”
“We have been on patrol for six hours, and we’ve seen not a single rogue. We discussed the fact that maybe they are not patrolling for some reason,” another of the patrol answers.
“Keep alert and report anything you even think may be of interest,” Gerry states, and we head out back to the packhouse, which is still a fair distance away.